Curb and gutter form spacing apparatus



Oct. 20, 1959 E. E. HOGAN ErAL CURB AND GUTTER FORM sRAcING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 Filed Dc. 17, 1954 IN V EN TORS @frag/JE# Oct. 20, 1959 E. E. HOGAN ETAL CURB AND GUTTER FORM SPACING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 17. 1954 3 Sheets-Sheei'l 2 INVENTUR` Oct. 20, 1959 EE. HOGAN ETAL I 2,908,959

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IN VEN TORS United States Patent O CURB AND GUTTER FORM SPACING APPARATUS Eric E. Hogan and Robert S. Malloch, Riverside, Calif., assiguors to James M. Wurtz, as trustee Application December 17, 1954, Serial No. 475,995 Claims. (Cl. 25-118) This invention relates to concrete construction forms and particularly to a form adapted to be set up and dismantled repeatedly in the casting of a unitary curb and gutter bordering a street or highway.

This invention is an improvement on the Apparatus for Molding Concrete Curbs, disclosed in the application of Eric E. Hogan, Serial No. 183,171, filed September 5, 1950, and which issued on September 7, 1954, as Patent No. 2,688,174.

The apparatus there disclosed is associated with the gutterboard, the curb backboard, and the curb faceboard, which are required in a form for molding a unitary curb and gutter, said apparatus resting on the upper edges of and properly spacing the gutterboard and backboard and providing a jig and clamp for supporting the curb faceboard in its proper relation to the other two boards.

The apparatus disclosed in said patent is adapted to be used to perform its function above stated, in conjunction with a Concrete Curb Form With Grade Level Determining Clamp and Stake, disclosed in the copending application of Eric E. Hogan, Serial No. 437,086, led June 16, 1954, now abandoned. Said clamp and stake invention is adapted to be used at each juncture between adjacent backboard lengths, placed end-to-end, to support said ybackboard on stakes driven into the ground, with the upper edge of the backboard elevated to the desired grade level for the top of the curb to be cast in the form of which the backboard is a part.

Neither of the inventions disclosed in said copending applications provides any means for locating the gutterboard on its proper grade level.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a curb and gutter form spacing apparatus which will not only unite in properly spaced relation the three boards of the form but will provide a means for concurrently establishing the gutterboard at its proper grade level.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a curb and gutter form spacing apparatus which will establish the gutter board in its proper angular'relation in a transverse plane relative to the other boards of the form.

A further object is to provide a curb and gutter form spacing apparatus which combines all the functions of the objects above stated and allows these to be expeditiously performed by relatively unskilled labor, thereby introducing a substantial further economy in the casting of concrete curb and gutter.

Our copending application led herewith and entitled Method and Apparatus for Setting Concrete Forms, Serial No. 476,040, filed December 17, 1954, discloses a method which'cuts the labor of setting up curb. and gutter forms. That method makes use of the surveyors data to lirst accurately set the 'backboard of the form in its correct position. The method then culminates with the assembly of the other two boards of the form in their proper predetermined relationships with the backboard whereby the entire form becomes set up in accordance with the survey data.

It is yet another object of the present invention to'provide a form board spacing apparatus which greatly simplilies and speeds up the performance of the concluding phase of said method after the backboard has been set in its correct position.

A still further object is to provide such a form board spacing apparatus, a portion of which may also serve in supporting said backboard vertically on its true plan line and at its true grade level as provided for in the initial phase of said method.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for assembling the boards of a curb and gutter form to produce the exact predetermined relation required between the respective boards of the form, and then clamping ythem in this relation so that said boards will not be deected from their true relation by the pressure of liquid concrete poured into the form.

A yet further object of the invention is to provide a so-called half-spacer which supports the faceboard entirely from the backboard and a stake driven alongside the latter.

In the concrete curb and gutter form Which the apparatus ofthe invention is provided for assembling, it is common practice to make the form boards sixteen feet in length and employ a full-spacer for the three boards of the mold at each junction point between the backboards and at the mid-point of each backboard and employ half-spacers for supporting the faceboard and properly relating this to the backboard at the mid-points between adjacent full-spacers. In some instances, on the other hand, it is found desirable in the use of the present invention to depend entirely upon half-spacers for supporting the faceboard in proper relation with the backboard of the mold. In either case, but particularly in the latter, it is important not to burden the backboard which is often suspended at its opposite ends with intervening portions thereof free from contact with the ground, with having to support the faceboard.

It is an additional object of the invention therefore to provide a half-spacer which obtains its support primarily from a stake driven into the ground just back of the backboard although this half-spacer contacts the upper edge of the backboard in order to properly relate the faceboard carried by such half-spacers with the upper edge of the backboard. In the present invention this is effected by providing each half-spacer with a clamp formed integral therewith and by which it is united with its stake with a high degree of rigidity which substantially prevents relative movement between said half-spacer and said stake.

A further object is to provide such a half-spacer in which the stake, providing primary support for the same and for the faceboard mounted thereon, is driven vertically into the ground in a position to engage the back face of the backboard of the mold with a line contact and to provide a lug on said half-spacer for engaging the backboard and holding it against said stake and with said stake so selectively positioned before being driven into the ground that the upper edge of the backboard is thus held between said lug and said stake on the true surveyed plan line for the curb to be cast in the mold of which said backboard is a part.

In other Words, it is an object of the invention to provide a half-spacer which is practically Vindependently supported on the stake associated therewith and yet engages the upper edge of the backboard to properly relate the latter edge with the faceboard mounted on the half-spacer and at the same time not only locates the upper edge of the backboard (or that portion thereof adjacent said stake) with its front face in the true plan line for the curb to be cast against said backboard but also supports the backboard by its line contact with said Patented Oct. 2 0, 1959 stake against expansion backward in response to the hydraulic pressure applied to the backboard by the body of liquid concrete poured into the mold.

The concluding phase of our method above referred to of assembling the boards of a curb-and-gutter mold and which follows the proper setting and supporting of the backboard, with the opposite ends of adjacent sections of said backboard located precisely at the true line and grade for the curb to be cast in said mold, has to do with locating and supporting the faceboard and gutterboard in their respective proper relationships with each other and with the backboard.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide what is hereinabove referred yto as a fullspacer, one end of which is adapted to engage the upper edge of the previously correctly located backboard, and which embodies jigs in which both said faceboard and said gutterboard may be clamped to automatically impart to the portions of said faceboard and gutterboard, engaged by said jigs, a uniform relation in space with the point on the upper edge of said backboard engaged by said spacer, and whereby the mere levelling of said full-spacer results in the location of both said faceboard and gutterboard at their respective true line and grade levels without the necessity of locating said faceboard and gutterboard by reference to the surveying data employed in properly locating said backboard.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a full-spacer as aforesaid which is provided with a stake clamp located just outside the jig for said gutterboard whereby a stake may be driven into the ground in association with said clamp and the latter set on said stake to retain said full-spacer in levelled position thereby causing said full-spacer to rigidly locate said faceboard and gutterboard in their true respective relationships with said backboard.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such a full-spacer having a stake clamp provided thereon adjacent the back face of said backboard whereby another stake may be driven into the ground in supporting relation with said backboard, and said last mentioned clamp applied thereto whereby the support of said full-spacer, said gutterboard and said faceboard will be borne primarily by said stakes while the latter will be united with said spacer to rigidly confine said gutterboard and backboard against outward expansion from their true positions in said mold under the expansive pressure of wet concrete poured into said mold.

When a concrete form is set up including boards at its opposite sides, and means for properly positioning said boards and confining these against expansion in response to 4the hydraulic pressure imposed thereagainst by liquid concrete poured into said mold, it is of great importance to the quality of the product, that, after saidl boards are properly located in the mold, they be not inadvertently defiected from their proper positions. One means heretofore provided for correctly relating such boards includes stakes driven into the ground vertically just outside of and in contact with said mold boards and a bar clamped at its opposite ends to upwardly extending portions of said stakes to preserve the parallel relation of these stakes and thus cause the latter to support said boards against outward expansion.

In this prior construction, major dependence was placed on the support given the stakes by the ground into which they were driven in order to maintain said stakesrin substantially vertical positions.. The connecting spacer merely acted as a tie-rod preventing upper end portions of said stakes being deflected away from each other yby the pressure of the concrete in the mold. The use of such an arrangement where the soil beneath the mold is too hard to permit adequate penetration of this by the stakes, resulted in the stakes being insecurely anchored in the soil and the apparatus was subject to being inadvertently shifted to one side or the other, after i being first set up, so as to convert the rectangle originally formed by the ground level, the two stakes and the spacer, into a non-rectangular parallelogram. This, of course, destroys the true form of the mold and results in an inferior product.

It is a broad object of the present invention to provide a form spacer including two metal stakes the lower ends of which rest upon and may be driven into the ground when the stakes are in use, and a spacer bar which is vertically adjustable on said stakes but is provided with clamping means for rigidly uniting the spacer bar with the stakes when the clamping means are set thereon so that said form spacer will constitute a substantially unitary rigid inverted U-shaped truss in which the stakes will be maintained in their original parallel spaced relation existing at `the moment said clamp means are set on said stakes, notwithstanding the subsequent imposition thereupon of severe stresses tending to alter such relation, and thereby assuring freedom from distortion in the mold after the boards thereof are once positioned by the use of saidY form spacer.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a form spacer truss with various board locating means so as to render said spacer effective in rapidly assembling the boards of a concrete mold in their proper relative positions therein, and with assurance that these will not subsequently be disturbed with resulting distortion of the mold.

The manner of accomplishing the above objects, as well as further objects and advantages, will be made manifest in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a diagrarmnatic plan view of two full board spacers embodying the invention and which are spaced along a form for casting a unitary concrete curb and gutter and a half-spacer constituting a subcombination of said invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken in the transverse plane indicated by the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary operational view of the half-spacer of the invention taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l and showing the faceboard jig and clamp of this jig in full lines with the faceboard disengaged by the clamp, and with the clamp handle shaft and jaw shown in broken lines as when rotated about the axis of the shaft to shift the jaw out from under the faceboard to permit lifting said half-spacer upward in removing said half-spacer from the form after a unitary curb and gutter has been cast in the latter.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 3 and illustrating the construction of the faceboard clamp actuating cam arm.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail horizontal sectional View taken on the line 5 5' of Fig. 2 and illustrating the construction of the backboard stake clamp of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a detail vertical sectional View taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5 and illustrating the backboard stake clamp with the clamp set.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 and showing said clamp relaxed as when driving a stake downwardly through the clamp.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross sectional View taken on line 8 8 of Fig. 2 and showing the novel backboard setting stake-clamp of the invention the stake of which also forms a part of the board spacing apparatus.

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of the stake-clamp shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a front elevational view of Fig. 9 and is taken in the direction of the arrow 10 thereof.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the invention is shown therein as embodied in a spacing apparatus 15 which offers a means of rapidly and accurately assembling the three boards of a concrete curb and gutter form 16 or, with equal facility disassembling said form.

5 The three boards of form 16y comprise the backboard 17, the faceboard 18 and the gutterboard 19.

The board spacing apparatus 15 includes a backboard setter 20, including a stake 21 and clamp 22, and a fullboard spacer 23.

The backboard setter stake 21 is preferably formed of three-quarter inch round steel bar stock which is standard for all of the stakes used in connection with the present invention.

vThe backboard setter clamp 22 (Figs. 8, 9 and 10) comprises a U-shaped body 28 die-formed from` a single piece of metal to have a web 29 pierced centrally by a hole 30 and having arms 31 bent at ninety degrees from its upper and lower ends. The arms 31 have aligned circularnotches 32 with restricted mouths 33 formed by shoulders 34, notches 32 being adapted to freely admit stake 21 to slide therethrough. The shoulders '34 prevent stake 21 escaping :from notches 32 through mouths 33, the stake, when presed against shoulders 34 being tangent with the plane of end faces 35 of arms 31.

Welded to one side of the clamp body 28 is a relatively thin metal tongue 36 having a hole 37 therein. Extended from the inside outward through hole 30 is the stem 42 of a locking head 43 formed thereon, said stem being bent at right angles just outside to form a handle 44 land to retain stem 42 assembled with clamp 22.

The inner face of locking head 43 is provided with teeth 45 which lie on opposite sides of the plane of handle 44 so as to be out of engagement with stake 21 when handle 44 is free to hang downward by gravity as shown in Fig. l0, thus allowing the stake to slide freely through the clamp. When the stake 21 is extending through the clamp, however, and the handle 44 is swung to sink the teeth 45 into the stake, the clamp becomes set on the stake preventing relative endwise movement therebetween.

The boards of form 16 are provided in convenient lengths, preferably sixteen feet long, and opposite ends ofthese are metal shod with sheet'metal channels 46 and bored endwise to form holes 47 for permanently mounting a pair of dowel pins 48 in one end of each length and, in the other end thereof, to form receptacles 49 to slidably receive pins of an adjacent length. Thus the series of lengths of each `of the form boards is held in continuous end-to-end alignment by said pins.

The board spacer 23 includes a vertical tube 55 the upper Vend portion of which is welded to a horizontal bar 56 and the other end of this bar is welded lio an inclined tube 57, the upper end of which is in turn welded to one end of a horizontal bar 58. The tube 55 has welded thereto a lug 59, the lower edge 60 of which is disposed at a right angle with the tube 55 so that said tube and said lug engage respectively outer and upper faces of the gutterboard 19 when the latter is tted upwardly and outwardly thereagainst, as shown in Fig. 2.

AWhen this'is done forcefully, a tooth 61 formed downwardly from the outer end of lug 59 is driven into the upper face o-f the gutterboard 19 to retain said board in this position.

The bar 58 has a lug 62 extending downwardly at right anglethereto and which is positioned to engage the inner vertical face of backboard 17 when the bar 58 is'resting on top of said backboard and when the upper edge of the latter is in proper spaced relation with gutterboard 19, as shown in Fig. 2.

The rigid board spacer 23 is thus seen to properly space the upper edges ofthe gutterboard 19 and the backboard 17 by contact with angled faces located at the upper edges of said boards.

Provided on the board spacer 23 is a faceboard jig 63 of which the tube 57 is a part and which includes a lug 64 secured `on the lower face of bar 58. The tube 57,v bar 58,v and the lug 64 provide surfaces of the jig 63 which are so relatively angled and spaced that the faceboard 18 is snugly received by these surfaces as 6 shown in Fig. 2 when said board islifted upwardlyY thereagainst... fj.. Y f

The jig 63 is provided with a clamp 65 including a shaft 70 which extends through tube 57 and is freely slidable and rotatable therein. The lower end of shaft 70-is` bent to form a hook-shaped jaw 71. Surrounding the upper end of shaft 70 is a bring washer 72 (Fig.V 4). The upwardly extending end of shaft 70 is bored to receive a-pivot pin73 on which opposite side plates 74 of a bifurcated cam lever arm 75 pivots. The pin 73 passes through'the plates 74 to one side of the longitudinal axis of the arm 75 and correspondingly curved cam faces 76 are provided on the ends of plates 74 so that rotation of the arm 75 about the pin'73 to one extreme position allows a maximum downward extension of the shaft 70 and the jaw 71, whereas vrotation of arm 75 about pin 73 to its opposite extreme position operates through the cam action ofcam faces 76 on the washer 72 to pull shaft 70to its extreme upper position, as shownin Fig. 2.Y Y

Thus, when faceboard 18 is held upwardly in conformity with jig 63, as shown in Fig. 2, and the arm 75 is rotated about the axis of shaft 70 to bring the jaw 71 underV said faceboard and then thearm 75 is swung about pin 73 from its full line position shown in Fig. 3 to its full line position as shown in Fig. 2, the jaw 71 is pressed upwardly against the lower edge of the faceboard 18 to clamp this in place in jig 63.

To release the board 18 from the clamp 65 the arm 75 is rotated about the pin73 from its full line position shown in Fig. 2 to its full line position shown in Fig. 3 which Vwithdraws the jaw 71 downwardly from the lower face of faceboard 18, after which the arm 75 is swung to rotate the shaft 70 a half turn which swings the jaw 71 out from beneath the board 18 as shown in broken lines in Fig. 3.

'Ihe tube 55 and lug 59 not only provide gauging surfaces for contacting the upper androuter faces of gutterboardr19 in Yperforming the gauging function of the board spacer 23, but these elements are embraced in a gutterboard jig 80. Y The jig 80 is provided with a clamp 81 including a shaft 82 which extends through the tube 55 and is freely slidable and rotatable therein. Bent horizontally from the llower end of shaft 82 is a jaw 83. The upwardly extending portion of shaft 82 is surrounded byA a washer 84 and is bored to receive a pivot pin 85 on which the bifurcated end of an arm 86V is pivoted, said arm being identical with arm 75 of clamp 65 and being-operable in the same manner to swing jaw 83 into position beneath gutterboard 19 and then lift said jaw to clamp said gutterboard in jig 80 as shown in Fig. 2, or jaw 83 can be lowered from clamping relation with said board and swung outwardly from beneath said board to permit the jig 80 to be lifted upwardly from engagement with said board.

Secured, as by welding, to tube 55 is a U-shaped body 87 of a stake clamp 88. The clamp 88 has a central opening for receiving a metal stake 89 and which will permit saidV stake to pass vertically through said clamp and then be driven into the soil as shown in Fig. 2. Said clamp vis then operable, in a manner to be described later, to be set against the stake 89, after the gutterboard 19 has been lifted to bring the upper face thereof to its true grade level thereby causing the stake 21 to support the adjacent end of the board spacer 23 and the gutterboard 19 with the latter entirely free of direct support from the soil.

Secured, as by welding, to the other end of horizontal bar 58 is a U-shaped body 92 of a stake clamp 93, the latter clamp also having a central opening which is adapted to receive a metal stake such as stake 21.

The outer end of bar 58 is of just suicient length beyond the outer face of lug 62 so that when the clamp body `92 is welded on to bar 58 the adjacent inner sur,-

face 94 of the clamp body 92 is approximately in the vertical plane of the outer face of backboard 17 when the linner face of the latter engages lug 62 Vas shown in 6.

The stake clamps 88 and 93 arev identical with a single exception to be noted latervso `that a description of one of these will suffice for both. Referring specifically to stake clamp 93, therefore (Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8), itwill be noted that the U-shaped body 92 thereof is provided with bearing apertures 95 for receiving a shaft 96, one extending end of which is bent to form a handle 97, and the other extending end of which carries a washer 98 and cotter key 99 to retain shaft 96 assembled on body 92. The apertures 95 form fairly loose bearings for shaft 96 as shown in Fig. 6, and shaft 96 is slightly bent so as to have an eccentric action when rotated. A lock bar 105 bent to form a long leg 106 and a short leg 107 has a keeper strap 108 welded thereto to form a. loop through which shaft 96 extends, thereby retaining lock bar 105 assembled on said shaft.

-Clamp 93' is set `on a stake extending through it by shiftingV the lock bar 105 to wedge this between the shaft 96 and the stake and rocking handle 97 to rotate shaft 96 in the direction of arrow 109 in Fig. 6 and thus bring the eccentric character of this shaft into play to press the sharp corners 110 and 111 of bar 105 into the stake. This rotation of shaft 96 in this direction also tends to advance bar 105 into tighter wedging relation between shaft 96 and the stake, thereby improving the clamping action produced by rotating shaft 96.

A reverse rotation of shaft 96 (Fig. 7) by manipulation of handle 97 quickly releases the grip of the clamp on the stake.

Clamp 88 differs from clamp 93 only in that the short leg 107 of lock bar 105 in clamp 88 is disposed downward instead of upward.

The latter condition is preferable as gravity is then operative to drop the lock bar 105 entirely out of clamping position when the shaft 96 is reversely rotated to release lock bar 105 from pressure from said shaft. The reason for the lock bar 105 being reversed from that position in clamp 93 is that ample clearance is thus provided between clamp 93 and clamp 22 when both are set on stake 21 as shown in Fig. 2.

A so-called half-spacer 115 is shown in Figs. 1 and 3 which is employed alternately with board spacers 23 along the form 16. This half-spacer is identical with the right portion of board spacer 23 (as this is viewed in Fig. 2) if spacer 23 were to be divided at the weld between horizontal bar 56 and inclined tube 57.

Employing the same reference numerals to designate parts of half-spacer 115 as are above applied to corresponding parts of board spacer 23, but with prime added, it is seen that half-spacer 115 embraces a face board jig 63 which is united by a horizontal bar 58', having a backboard spacing lug A62', with a stake clamp 93'. The stack clamp 93 is adapted to iit downwardly over a stake 120 driven vertically in the ground and contacting the outer face of backboard 17, and then be set on said stakel as shown in Fig. 3, to position faceboard jig 63 in alignment with corresponding jigs 63 on adjacent board spacers 23.

- Operation The first step in using the board spacing apparatus of the invention is to accurately set the backboard 17 in acordance with the survey data provided so that said board is vertical with its top inner edge on its true plan line and on its true grade level. This is best accomplished by the method disclosed in our aforesaid copending application led herewith.

In that method a sub-grade 125 is formed by the use of a. power earth working tool in the soil '.126 of the area to be occupied by the form 116. This sub-grade is located a small fraction of an inch below the horizontal plane in which the bottom edge of backboard 17 will lie when the top edge of said board is at true grade level for the top of the curb. Thus, after backboard 17 is set up in a vertical plane, resting on a side edge on sub-grade 125, and with its inner top edge on the true plan line for said board, it is necessary to lift each length of the backboard `17 a certain distance above sub-grade 125 to bring its top edge up to true grade level and then maintain said backboard lengths so suspended throughout the completion of the form 16 and the casting of a curb and gutter therein.

Backhoard setter 20 is particularly useful in performing this function. With the first length of backboard 17 properly set up vertically on sub-grade '125 on its true plan line, a clamp 22 is fitted on the end of said length with the upper dowel pin 48 extending through hole 37 in tongue 36. A stake 21 is now extended downward vertically through clamp 22 and driven into the soil. This stake is long enough so that after being so driven to a sufficient depth, its upper end extends four or five inches `above the top of the backboard length. The adjacent end of the latter is now lifted to bring its upper edge to true grade level whereupon the handle 44 of the clamp 22, which had been hanging straight downward, is swung upward to force teeth 45 against the stake 21 thereby locking the clamp 22 on the stake and suspending that end of said backboard length above the ground and with its top edge at true grade level.

This operation is then repeated at the opposite end of said length with another clamp 22 fitted onto the upper of the two dowel pins 48 at the near end of the next backboard length and with said pins extended into corresponding receptacles 49 at the far end of the first backboard length. This continues until the entire backboard 17 of form 16 is set on the correct plan line and grade level specified for this in the survey data provided. When so set, the backboard is suspended throughout its entire length on stakes 21.

The only thing now required to complete form `16 to cast a curb and gutter located exactly in accordance with the survey data is to unite boards 18 and 19 with backboard 17 in their true predetermined relationship and anchor the form to the ground. The full board spacers 23 and half-spacers 1115 provide a means for accomplishing this final phase of setting up form 16 very rapidly and with relatively unskilled labor.

Two of the space-rs 23 and two half spacers 115 are used in form 16 for each sixteen-foot backboard length. As only one stake l21 is employed for each backboard length, these being located at the points of juncture between yadjacent lengths, three stakes 120, identical with stakes 21 are now driven vertically in the earth while touching the outer face of each length of backboard and with said stakes 120 spaced at equal intervals of four feet on centers from each other and from the stakes 21 at opposite ends of said length.

As the backboard 17 may be slightly warped from true straightness, it is necessary in setting the stakes 120 as above noted to check the portion of the backboard adjacent each of such stakes by reference to the survey string employed in setting said backboard to see that the inner face of the backboard is on the true plan line for the inner face of the curb and gutter form 16, then locating said stake 120 in line contact with the back face of said backboard before dri-ving said stake vertically into the ground.

VThe spacers 23, and half-spacers 1115, and the stakes, and the required lengths of the form boards having been laid `out on the ground in advance of starting the assembly operation, the form setter now picks up the spacers 23 4and sets these in place. This is done by lifting the lock bar of the clamp 93 of each spacer 23 and sliding the clamp 93 of that spacer downward over the upper end of one of the stakes 21, or over one of the stakes at a midpoint of a backboard length until spacers 23 arethus associated with all stakes 21 and those stakes 120 which are eq'ually spaced fromrthe stake 21.

When first placing spacers- 23 on these stakes, the opposite ends of the spacers are allowed to rest on the ground.

The lengths of gutterboard 19 are 110W placed in the gutterboard jigs 80 of the spacers 23 assembled in endtO-end relation and clamped in place in said jigs.

Stakes '89 are now extended vertically downward through stake clamps 88 and driven into the ground.

As each lstake 89 is so driven, a spirit level 140 is placed on bar 56 of that spacer 23 and the gutterboard jig end of the spacer lifted until bar 56 is level, indicating gutterboard 19 is at its proper grade level, whereupon -the stake clamp v88 of that spacer is locked on its stake 89. The stake clamp 93 at 'the opposite end of this spacer 23 is now locked on its stake. The level 140 is then moved to the next spacer 23 and the levelling process repeated.

When all the spacers 23 are thus levelled and the stake clamps 88 and 93 locked on the stakes associated therewith, the lengths of faceboard 18 are placed in the faceboard jigs 63 of the spacers 23, assembled in end-to-end relation, and clamped in place in said jigs.

Half-spacers 115 are now placed with their clamps 93' receiving upper ends of those stakes 120 which are located midway between adjacent spacers 23. With halfspacers 115 snugly fitting theupper edges of backboard 17, and faceboard 18, clamps 93 are then set on their stakes |120 and faceboard jigs `63 of said half-spacers are set to clamp the `faceboard in said jigs.

As clearly shown in Fig. 6, the inner surface 94 of the clamp body 92 of stake clamp 93' of each halfsupport for the half-spacer 11'5 thus clamped thereto and the weight of that portion of the faceboard -18 which is clamped in the jig 63 of said half-spacer. While thus transmitting the weight of the half-spacer and face-board 18 to the stake 120 on which it is clamped, each stake clamp 93' also holds the stake 120 on which it is set in close spaced relation with the lug 62 thereby holding the upper edge of the faceboard .'18 against the stake 120 and on the true plan line for the curb and gutter form 16. This also holds the backboard I17 in precise supported relation with the stakes 120 and in precise spaced relation with the faceboard 18.

The lugs 62 on each full-spacer 23 perform similar functions to the lug 62 on the half-spacer 1'15.

The form 16 is now completely assembled for the casting of a unitary concrete curb and gutter therein.

This is accomplished by delivering ready-mixed concrete from a mixer truck into the space between gutterboard 19 and faceboard 18 to fill this up to broken line 145 in Fig. 2, and into the space between baekboard 17 and faceboard 18 to fill this up to the level of the top edges of these boards.

When the concrete has set but not hardened, the arms 75 and 86 of the jigs 63 and `80 are swung about pins 73 and 8-5 and shafts 70 and 8-2 driven downwardly to free jaws 71 and 83 from lower edges of 'faceboard [18 and gutterboard 19 respectively. Arms 75 and 86 are now used to rotate shafts 70 and 82 a quarter turn each thereby shifting jaws 7'1 and 83 out from under these boards. Stake clamps 88 and 93 are now released from the stakes penetrating these, and spacers 23 are lifted from the form boards and the freshly cast gutter and curb.

In like manner, the jigs 63' and stake clamps 93' of the half spacers 115 are relaxed and the half spacers lifted upward from the faceboard and backboard.

Stakes 89 and 130 are now withdrawn from the earth,

and gutterboard 19-and faceboard 1'8 removed, length by length, from the concrete casting.

Finally stake clamps 22 are relaxed and backboard 17 is disassembled, length by length.

This is done by just reversing the process of assembly so that as each length of backboard is lremoved the upper dowel pin v48 thereof is withdrawn from the clamp 22 associated therewith, thus permitting said clamp vto be lifted upwardly from its stake 22 and the latter worked back and forth in the earth and withdrawn therefrom.

The boards of the form are now brushed free of bits of concrete and the entire form is ready to be transported to another area and erected as above described for the casting of another concrete gutter and curb.

The advantages inherent in the present invention are believed manifest in the above description of a preferred embodiment 'of the same. High n relative importance among these advantages is the simplicity in structure and method of assembly of the form 16 which permits relatively inexpensive labor to be employed in 'handling it. Then there is the precise character of the form whereby a product of superior quality is obtained at the same time that the cost is lowered.

The claims are:

l. A spacingv apparatus for quick and accurate assembly and quick disassembly of a curb and gutter form having Ia gutterboard, la faceboard and a backboard, said apparatus comprising: a board spacer one end of which has a stake clamp thereon and is adapted to rest on top of said backboard; a stake, driven, when in use, into the soil, in outside, vertical supporting relation with said backboard so that said stake clamp may be set on said t stake with said spacer resting on said backboard; a lug on said spacer cooperating with said clamp to hold said backboard against said stake; a pair of jigs on said spacer having quickly releasable clamp means for clamping said gutterboard and said faceboard in said jigs whereby a precisely correct relationship is set up between said three boards when said gutterboard and said backboard are positioned at their true grade levels; a second stake clamp provided on said spacer, at the opposite end thereof from said first stake clamp; a stake driven, when in use,

` in the soil outside said gutterboard adjacent said secondV clamp whereby the latter may be set on said second stake to support that end of said spacer with said gutterboard suspended above the soil at its true grade level relative to the grade level of said backboard; and a backboard setting clamp having means of attachment to said backboard and disposed adjacent to said rst stake whereby said clamp may be set on said first stake -to suspend said backboard above the soil to bring the topedge thereof to its true grade level.

2. A spacing apparatus for quick and accurate assembly and quick disassembly of a curb and gutter form having a gutterboard, a faceboard and a backboard, said apparatus comprising: a board spacer one end of which has a stake clamp thereon and Iis adapted to rest on top of said backboard; a stake, driven, when in use, into the soil, in outside,- vertical supporting relation with said backboard `so that said stake clamp may be set on said stake with said spacer resting on said backboafrd; a lug on sa-id spacer cooperating with said clamp to hold said backboard against said stake; a pair of jigs on said spacer having quickly 4releasable clamp means for clamping said gutterboard and said faceboard in said j-igs whereby a precisely correct relationship is set up between said three boards when said :gutterboard and said backboard are positioned at their true grade levels; and a backboard stake setting clamp having means of attachment to said blackboard and disposed adjacent to said rst stake whereby said clamp may -be set on said rst stake to suspend said backboard labove the soil to bring the top sembly and quick disassembly of a curb and gutter form v having a'timber gutterboard, a timber faceboard and a timber backboard, said apparatus comprising: a gutterboard jig; a faceboard jig; said jigs 'having quickly releasabtle clamping means for clamping said gutterboard and vsaid faceboard in their respective jigs; a board spacer rigidly uniting said jigs in a tixed relation and extending beyond said faceboard jig to overlie and rest on said backboard; a lug extending downward frorn said Spacer to engage the inner face of said backboard and accurately space the upper edge of the latter from said other boards; stake clamps rigidly mounted on opposite ends of said spacer; and a pair of stakes driven, when in use, into the ground just outside said gutterboard and backboard adjacent said stake clamps, said stake clamps being adapted to `be set on said stakes, when said backboard and gutterboard have been positioned at their correct respective grade levels `and said backboard has been positioned vertically on its true plan line and supported at its correct' grade level, to unite said boards of said form in the precise relation required for a curb and gutter of a certain specicvdesign lto be cast in said form at the exact position called for by the prescribed true plan line and grade level for said curb and gutter.

4. In an apparatus for assembling lthree boards of a concrete mold in a given parallel relation in space, the combination of: tirst yand 'second jigs for jigging two of said boards, each of said jigs including a guide means and means for clamping a board against said guide means in a fixed relation therewith; a spacer integrally united at its opposite ends to the guide means of said jigs; a stake clamp; a second spacer integrally united at one of its ends to the guide means of said rst jig and at its Y 12 v opposite end to said stake clamp; and a lug on said second spacer for holding the third one of said boards close to a stake when said clamp is applied to the latter, said apparatus when levelled, with said stake, second spacer and lug thus holding said third board, positively positioning said three boards in said given parallel relation in space.

5. A combination as in claim 4 including a second stake clamp provided on said second jig and adapted to receive a second stake, and to be set on said stake after the latter has been driven into the ground to retain said apparatus as it is positioned when levelled as aforesaid.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,109,433 Leydecker Sept. 1, 1914 1,140,776 Teters May 25, 1915 1,472,018 Heltzel Oct. 23, 1923 1,497,962 Trester June 17, 1924 1,628,316 Heltzel May 10, 1927 1,637,998 Heltzel Aug. 2, 1927 1,770,518 Haroold July 15, 1930 1,833,509 Wolf Nov. 24, 1931 2,180,842 Winding Nov. 21, 1939 2,538,526 Kittas Ian. 16, 1951 2,577,996 Braun Dec. 11, 1951 2,610,660 Jennings et al Sept. 16, 1952 2,688,174 Hogan Sept. 7, 1954 2,711,573 Bliss June 28, 1955 2,764,798 Hui Oct. 2, 1956 

